prayer request update

On Thurs evening, I posted this:

"Please pray for Kourtney, too, as her "tic" has returned.  When she first moved in, she would sit around making these odd little "hmm" or "uh" noises.  Not like she was clearing her throat, but just a little noise every few seconds.  If she's talking, she doesn't do this, but when she sits still & watches TV or is just listening to someone else, she is constantly doing this.  And to watch her face, it's clear that it's a totally subconscious thing.  She's not even aware she's doing it til you point it out.  When I asked her about it tonight, she just shrugged her shoulders & said she didn't know why she does it."

UPDATE:  The tic is gone.  I think this must be her stress/worry habit & it will come out from time to time I guess.  After I returned from WOF (last night), she's been tic-free all day today.  I suppose she was worried about my leaving for the conference (my safety while I was gone, I guess...) or worried about missing me.  Whatever the case, she seems fine now!  :)  PTL!

Thurs Aug 24

It's funny how kids talk in circles & assume you know what they're talking about.  Today on the way home from school, Kourtney announced "When I get home, I'm going to keep doing that."

Huh?

So I said "What will you keep doing, honey?".

She groaned,  "You know!  My birthday is November 3.  I have the angel with my birthday on it."

HUH?  I sat there thinking hard, trying to figure out what she was talking about.  All I could come up with is a little statue figurine thing that's shaped like an angel w/ "November" across the front.  But what was it she was doing with it?

I asked again "Sweetie, I don't know what you're talking about.  What about your angel?"

She said "I was drawing on my little notepad & copying the angel on it."

Umm...ok.  Copying the angel?  Still not sure what she meant, I asked again.  "Honey, what do you mean?  I'm not sure I understand.  Were you drawing the angel?"

(Acting all put out that I'd ask her to repeat herself...)  "I was copying the word on my angel onto my notepad this morning."

LOL!  Ok.....................now how was I supposed to get that from "When I get home, I'm going to keep doing that."?????????

Apparently the crystal ball quit working for me.  Anyone got a spare?  :)  I'm not sure I would've got THAT from THAT.

Please pray for Kourtney, too, as her "tic" has returned.  When she first moved in, she would sit around making these odd little "hmm" or "uh" noises.  Not like she was clearing her throat, but just a little noise every few seconds.  If she's talking, she doesn't do this, but when she sits still & watches TV or is just listening to someone else, she is constantly doing this.  And to watch her face, it's clear that it's a totally subconscious thing.  She's not even aware she's doing it til you point it out.  When I asked her about it tonight, she just shrugged her shoulders & said she didn't know why she does it.

Also, pray for Andrew.  I usually cuddle with him almost every night when he lays down.  This is our special time & he's upset that I won't be here tomorrow (Fri) night to do that with him.  I'm leaving at 9am for Women of Faith in Dallas & won't be back til late Sat night.  Tonight he was really upset when he figured this out.  I promised him that Larry would snuggle with him instead, but he didn't seem as satisfied w/ that.  I wonder if he worries something will happen to me when I'm gone?  Like his mom?  :(  Poor kiddo!

Aug 23

Last night, while laying in bed w/ Andrew, he started coming up with all sorts of things that he could build or create to leave on Kelly's grave.  He talked about making a house out of popsicle sticks, pictures, etc.  When we were last there, we got the little temporary metal stake that the funeral home put on the grave until her headstone was placed.  It has her name on it, birth/death dates and the funeral home name.  Whenever they place the headstone, the family usually removes the little temporary marker.  We brought it home with us & plan to create a little memorial garden of sorts with it.  We're going to make a circle of stones or bricks or something & fill it with flowers w/ the marker in the middle.  We'll probably wait til the spring arrives to do it.  It'll be nice to see flowers bloom in Kelly's memory and to have a little place that the kids can go sit & think about their mom & remember her in our own yard.  We won't quit going to the cemetary, but will have a 2nd place for them.

On a funny note---Kourtney is always saying something that makes us giggle.  Bless her heart, she really is blonde deep down.  :)  On Monday, when I was walking the kids into the school, we had to walk up a kind of rocky red clay hill.  Sarah looked down at the dirt & said "Mommy, why is there sand a different color than ours?".  Kourtney said "Well duh...it's golden sand." as if she was the authority on all types of soil!  LOL!  It cracked me up!

The past month or so has been so nice.  Watching Andrew & Savannah finally reach a place where they are friendly to each other is so sweet.  I love walking into the living room & seeing them share Larry's recliner to watch TV.  Not in a cuddling sort of way, but just sitting next to each other & talking about what they're watching on TV is soo nice!  Savannah has a few computer games that Andrew has begun to really love & it's sweet to hear her instructing him on how to do this or that on those.  After several months of watching them go head to head on a daily basis (since they're both soooo firstborn!!!), it's such a treat to see them getting along soooo well, like friends!  I'm sure this won't be the end of all fights & arguments, but to see them cooperating, helping each other, talking about kid stuff, playing games together...........awwww....it's awesome!

Entry #2---awesome book I read---review!!

 Just to warn you ahead of time.......this is a little long............

 

    I started reading this book, a little at a time, about 2 months ago.  It was sooo very good.  I've never read any of Max Lucado's books before, but I do love his daily email devotional & the "Upwards" on Christian radio stations, so I figured his books had to be good, too.  This was my first & it's enough to have me hooked.  Now I've got to decide which one to read next!!  (If you've read some of his stuff, give me some suggestions!!)

    The title is "It's Not About Me".  The funny thing is, I got this from a lady on the MOMYS (Mothers of Many Young Siblings) list who lives in another state.  She offered it for about $1 & I bought it from her.  Not even a week after receiving it, someone suggested this very book to me as a study for our singles dept.  Funny how God works out those neat little coincidences!

    I can tell you it's 'good' & encourage you to read it, but I figured I'd go one step further.  If you want to hear some of the highlights of the book, read on.  If not, go ahead & delete this now.  I'm going to give you a couple of the really "WOW" quotes from the book's most meaty-deep chapters & then let you decide if it's something you want to follow up & read.  Trust me...you won't be sorry.

    The message to the book is simple--- "It's Not about Me", but it's presented in a different way than I've ever seen that particular topic covered.  Read on to see what I mean...........

 

From Chapter 2, titled "Show Me Your Glory":

1.  When our deepest desire is not the things of God, or a favor from God, but God Himself, we cross a threshold.

 

2.  (in talking about Moses reaching a place where he asked God to show Himself to him....)Gleaming.  Bright as if backlit by a thousand torches.  Unknown to Moses, but undeniable to the Hebrews, is his shimmering face.  When he descended the mountain, "the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face."  (2 Cor 3:7).

    Witnesses saw, not anger in his jaw, or worry in his eyes, or a scowl on his lips; they saw God's glory on his face.

    Did he have reason for anger?  Cause for worry?  Of course.  Challenges await him.  A desert and forty years of great challenges.  But now, having seen God's face, he can face them.

    Forgive my effrontery, but shouldn't Moses' request be yours?  You've got problems.  Look at you.  Living in a dying body, walking on a decaying planet, surrounded by a self-centered society.  Some saved by grace; others fueled by narcissism.  Many of us by both.  Cancer.  War. Disease.

    These are no small issues.  A small god?  No thanks.  You and I need what Moses needed--a glimpse of God's glory.  Such a sighting can change you forever....................................

    At that moment I realized something.  I could look around and find fear, or look at my father and find faith.

    I chose my father's face.

    So did Moses.

    So can you.

 

From chapter 4, titled "Holy Different"

1.  What you are to a paper airplane, God is to you.  Take a sheet of paper & make one.  Contrast yourself with your creation.  Challenge it to a spelling contest.  Who will win?  Dare it to race you around the block.  Who is faster?  Invite the airplane to a game of one on one basketball.  Will you not dominate the court?  And well you should.  The thing has no brainwaves, no pulse.  It exists only because you formed it & flies only when someone throws it.  Multiply the contrasts between you & the paper plane by infinity, and you will begin to catch a glimpse of the disparity between God & us.

 

2.  Trace the universe back to God's power, and follow His power upstream to His wisdom.

 

From chapter 6, titled "His Unchanging Hand"

.....Even the strongest among us must eventually rest.  Lance Armstrong can maintain a bike speed of 32mph for a solid hour.  Healthy college males last 45 seconds at that speed.  I'd make 30 before wanting to throw up.  Armstrong lives up to the last half os his last name.  He is strong.  But at some point hemust rest.  His head seeks the pillow and his body seeks rest.  ......Call Jim Eubanks strong.  Swimming 70 laps a day and holding 1/2 a dozen endurance swim records would be proof alone.  But still logging a daily mile in the pool & winning races at age 85?  Don the Speedo & flex those lats, Mr. Eubank.  You are strong, but you won't be strong forever.

    God will.  The words "I'm feeling strong today" he has never said.  He feels equally strong every day.

    ........Think about it.  God never pauses to eat or asks the angels to cover for Him while he naps.  He never signals a time out or puts the prayers from Russia on hold while he covers South Africa.......  Need a strong hand to hold?  You'll always find one in Him.  His strength never changes.

 

2.  Catch God in a bad mood?  Won't happen.  Fear exhausting his grace?  A sardine will swallow the Atlantic first.  Think he's given up on you?  Wrong.  Did he not make a promise to you?  "God is not a human being, and he will not lie.  He is not a human, and he does not change his mind.  What he says he will do, he does.  What he promises, he makes come true". (Numbers 23:19).  He's never sullen or sour, sulking or stressed.  His strength, truth, ways, and love never change.  He is "the same yesterday & today and forever". (Heb 13:8)

 

3.  Cemetaries interrupt the finest families.  Retirement finds the best employees.  Age withers the strongest bodies.  With life comes change.  But with change comes the reassuring appreciation of heaven's permanence.  His "firm foundation stands" (2 Tim 2:19).  His house will stand forever.

 

Chapter 7, God's great love

1.  .......at the time Martin Luther was having his Bible printed in Germany, a printer's daughter encountered God's love.  No one had told her about Jesus.  Toward God she felt no emotion but fear.  One day she gathered pieces of fallen Scripture from the floor.  On one paper she found the words "For God so loved the world, that He gave...".  The rest of the verse had not yet been printed.  Still, what she saw was enough to move her.  The thought that God would give anything moved her from fear to joy.  Her mother noticed the change of attitude.  When asked the cause of her happiness, the daughter produced the crumpled piece of paper from her pocket.  The mother read it and asked "What did he give?".  The child was perplexed for a moment and then answered "I don't know.  But if he loved us well enough to give us anything, we should not be afraid of Him."

    Had God given his children a great idea or lyrical message or an endless song.....but he gave Himself.

 

2.  I know what my dad did.  Much to his credit, he let me help him.  He gave me jobs to do-- holding wrenches, scrubbing spark plugs.  And he knew my limits.  Never once did he say "Max, tear apart that transmission, will ya?  One of the gears is broken."  Never.  For one thing, he liked his transmission.  For another, he loved me.  He loved me too much to give me too much.

    So does God.  He knows your limitations.  He's well aware of your weaknesses.  You can no more die for your own sins than you can solve world hunger.  And according to Him, that's okay.  The world doesn't rely on you.  God loves you too much to say it's all about you.  He keeps the cosmos humming.  You and I sprinkle sawdust on oil spots & thank him for the privelege.  We've peeked under the hood.  We don't know what it takes to run the world, and wise are we who leave the work to his hands.

 

Chapter 9, My Message is About Him

I believe Satan trains battalions of demons to whisper one question in our ears: "What are people thinking of you?".

 

Chapter 10, My Salvation is About Him

Your salvation showcases God's mercy.  It makes nothing of your effort but everything of His.

 

Chapter 11, My Body is About Him

This chapter talks about various things in how we care for our bodies & how that can either focus us further or take us further away from His glory.  This particular part really moved me.  It's in reference to sex.  If you'd rather skip this one, just scroll on down to the next quote.

 

Casual sex, intimacy outside of marriage, pulls the Corinthian ploy.  It pretends we can give the body and not affect the soul.  We can't.  We humans are so intricately psychosomatic that whatever touches the soma impacts the psyche as well.  The me-centered phrase "as long as no one gets hurt" sounds noble, but the truth is, we don't know who gets hurt.  God-centered thinking rescues us from the sex we thought would make us happy. ......... Casual sex is a diet of chocolate-- it tastes good for a while, but the imbalance can ruin you.  Sex apart from God's plan wounds the soul.

    Sex according to God's plan nourishes the soul.  Consider his plan.  Two children of God make a covenant with each other.  They disable the ejection seats.  They burn the bridges back to Mama's house.  They fall into each other's arms beneath the canopy of God's blessing, encircled by the fence of fidelity.  Both know the other will be there in the morning.  Both know that the other will stay even as skin wrinkles and vigor fades.  Each gives the other exclusive for-your-eyes-only priveleges.  Gone is the guilt.  Gone the undisciplined lust.  What remains is a celebration of permanence, a tender moment in which the body continues what the mind & the soul have already begun. ..........

    Such sex honors God.  And such sex satisfies God's children.

 

Chapter 12, My Struggles are About Him

Your faith in the face of suffering cranks up the volume of God's song.

 

Chapter 13, My Success is About Him

God lets you excel so you can make Him known.

 

There is so much more, but these are just the big "WOW" quotes that jumped out at me.  I hope you get a chance to seek out this book & read it.  It's very much worth it.  It's a small book & if you have the time, it could be read cover to cover within a day's time.  Let me know if you read it & how you like it!

Sun Aug 20-- entry #1

Last night was the Library's prize auction.  The kids had varying amounts of money (everything from $40 all the way up to $1003!!!).  When it got started, the librarian told the parents "The kids are allowed to buy ANYTHING" & all the kids cheered!  There were over 100 items to bid on & they did...one by one.  :::yawn:::

Savannah had the most money & spent several hundred dollars buying a dog that's almost the size of a twin-sized bed!  LOL!  It's really soft & cuddly, though, so I'm sure we'll have it for years.  She's been using IT as her covers at night!  LOL!  She also spent nearly $200 buying a little Bratz motorcycle for a little girl who ran out of money & was crying.  She spotted her tears & started bidding.  I wondered if she was buying it for herself (since she's sorta outgrown Bratz) & then watched her win & go hand it to the other child.  ::::glowing mommy::::  I was so proud of her!  She also bought a little car on a keychain to give Samuel for Christmas & a watch for Andrew for Christmas.  She's got such a tenderheart!  She got a really neat insulated lunchbox that came with a certificate from the place that donated it to have it monogrammed w/ her name.  I'm anxious to get that done!  I know it'll be really pretty when it's done.

Andrew only had $40, but somehow got another $20 from someone along the way.  He bought an electric guitar toy, some binoculars & something else...can't remember what.  He wasn't all that excited at first, but it was fun to watch him hurriedly counting his money when an item went up for bid that he wanted!  :)

Samuel had a little over $100 & bought a handful of junky little toys.  I can't even remember what he bought, but I know his favorite thing was the watch he bought for himself.  Now if I can just find the little paper that explains how to set the thing!!!

Kourtney had $53 & spent every penny on one item---binoculars!  She wanted another little pig toy but someone outbid her.  She was sooo upset about losing it & I felt awful for her.  Seeing her so disappointed, crying & laying on my shoulder was aboutmore than I could take.  (Think the other mom would've minded if I went & yanked the pig toy out of her daughter's hands?  LOL....ok, so maybe that would've been bad!)  Once she got over the grief of her pig-toy loss, she perked up & found the binoculars & decided to bid on those & won!  :)

Sarah used all of her money (just over $100) to buy a Barbie & a paddleball right off the bat.  She then had to sit with Larry & I and just watch for the next 2 hours.  She loves her Barbie, though, so she was happy to sit & play with her til the rest were done.

That was last night............today is mine & Larry's 12th wedding anniversary.  We are going out for an anniversary brunch in the morning.  I had planned for our pastor to use a Powerpoint slide I had made for him tonight in church, but the person who puts together his powerpoint stuff wasn't there, so he couldn't do it.  Instead, Savannah got on stage to announce to the church that it was our anniversary & led the crowd in a round of applause.  :)  I'll take that.  That's about as good as having my pretty PP slide on the screens!!  (& just so you can see it, I'm including it as a pic above!)  And if ya don't know...Bullet is the nickname our pastor gave Larry when he started working there.

I guess that's about it....but please do go on & read my 2nd entry for today, too!

Saturday Aug 19

So sorry I never got back to the journal after the first day of school.  Things got busy.  (Doesn't it always?)

See the picture above for everyone's first day of school clothes.  :)  I got them all lined up (except Sarah) & then realized she was sitting in the van crying.  She wasn't upset about going to school, but mad that someone had "taken her seat" in the van.  So although she looks sad here, she really isn't!  She's just mad!  And do you like how Kourtney's wearing her backpack?

Sarah has a couple of friends in her K class, so she's not totally alone at school.  Plus, her teacher is the same one we had for Savannah & Samuel.  We really love Mrs. Page!

Kourtney is across the hall in another class, with a lady we've been told is very tenderhearted & sweet.  So far, we really like her.  Kourtney has made a friend (a little boy named Cole) and seems to be enjoying Kindergarten!

Samuel loves being back in school.  His teacher is a young lady, this is only her 3rd or 4th year to teach.  She's very sweet.  See the pic above of him headed down the hall toward the classroom the first morning....ha ha....yeah, he was real upset about having to go back to school.

Andrew went into the school with shouts from friends calling his name.  He really liked that, I think, knowing that people remembered him & wanted to say hello.  So far, he really likes his school & his teacher.

Savannah, of course, is a big middle schooler now.  Scary!  She's walked herself in these first two days because, after all, 5th graders are old enough to do that.  (sniff, sniff....)  She's done really well, too, and likes her teachers.  I think her favorite part of the middle school is that there are microwaves in the cafeteria where she can heat things up at lunchtime.  That's a new thing for us, so packing lunch bowls & frozen things has given me a new twist to packing lunches!

I went in to work on Thurs & Fri and got my classroom ready.  I really like how we've got it set up this year.  My curriculum director set it up for me before I came in the first day and she did a great job.  Although I'm going to have a lot more kids this year, I think it'll be a good year!

Larry has gone to a funeral this morning & tonight is the library prize auction for the summer reading program.  The kids are all excited about that--and so am I.  They always have so much fun there & buy a lot of neat things w/ their prize money.  It's fun to see their excitement & enthusiasm at the auction.  :)

I guess that's about all for this morning.  I'll post tonight after the prize auction.

 

Whew...all better!

After babying my back all day yesterday & staying in bed on an ice pack, I was fine this morning!  THANK GOD!  I really NEEDED to be able to move today since it was the first day of school & my first day back to work.  I don't have students til Tuesday, but the first 3 days of school I'm going in to set up my classroom & all and I really needed to be able to walk!

 

More about the first day of school later tonight.